Name: Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 360 min
Total time: 365 min
Ingredients: 3 lbs chicken breasts (raw); 2 cups chicken bone broth

Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken is the perfect recipe to prepare your chicken ahead of time and easily add it to all kinds of recipes! It’s a great way to meal prep to make dinner time easier during the week!

I know this recipe may not seem like one you need because it’s so simple… but sometimes I think we need a reminder that dinner doesn’t need to be super complicated.

If dinner stresses you out, do yourself a favor and prepare some shredded chicken to have on hand to put together quick dinners during the week.

Shredded chicken can be stored in an airtight container in your fridge for the week, or I like to make a big batch and freeze it in a ziplock bag for use when I’m all out of dinner ideas!

Can you put raw chicken in the slow cooker?

Raw chicken breasts in a slow cooker with chicken bone broth on it

Yes! You literally take the chicken directly from the package and place it, frozen or thawed, in the slow cooker. This is so simple I promise you can’t mess it up!

How do you make slow cooker shredded chicken?

Place chicken in slow cooker
Add chicken broth. I prefer bone broth but regular broth works as well
Cover slow cooker with lid
Cook for 4-6 hours on low, or 2-4 hours on high
Chicken should be cooked to 165 degrees for food safety
Shred and enjoy!

Should I use chicken broth or chicken bone broth?

A measuring cup with chicken bone broth in it with a box of bone broth next to it.

You can use either, but I’m going to strongly suggest you try this recipe with chicken bone broth. Using bone broth makes this chicken much richer in flavor and juicy. I prefer to make mine with bone broth but will use chicken broth if that’s all I have on hand.

How do you shred chicken?

Take the cooked chicken breasts and place them either on a cutting board or a plate and use 2 forks and gently pull apart the chicken. It should shred very easily. If it is tough you may have overdone it, or if it’s still pink and hard to shred, it’s not cooked fully yet so place back in slow cooker and allow to cook until fully done.

A woman shredding chicken with 2 forks in a slow cooker

You can also use a KitchenAid Mixer to shred your chicken. You just put the cooked chicken breasts in the bowl and use the flat paddle attachment. Mix on low until chicken is shredded. This does not take long!

Do not over shred if you use the KitchenAid Mixer. Been there done that and I’ve ruined the chicken! Keep a close eye on it as you do it. This is a very quick way to shred chicken though so don’t rule it out if you make large batches of shredded chicken!

I’ll be creating some tasty, yet easy, recipes you can use with your slow cooker shredded chicken so make sure you are on my email list so you’ll be notified when those recipes are live on the blog!